Oblivion 2 Chapter Four “And the first living creature is like a lion, and the second living creature is like a young bull and the third living creature has a face like a man’s, and the forth living creature is like a flying eagle.” (Revelation 4 v 7) With reference to the creature like a lion and another with the face like a man’s Father lay down his copy of the Bible that he had been reading, and buried his head into his hands. Vincent had been gone so many weeks, and there had been no sign of him. Father’s heart ached, as if a deep chasm had been gorged there with the passing of time, each new day bringing the rift wider, the pain stronger, so that his restless body knew no sleep and his mind knew no respite. Catherine had left also, returned to the world Above, having given up on Vincent, unable to take any more of his conviction of being anything to her but a man, and being unable to live Below, and not to have him with her. Still re-coiling at the venom of her words, Father had not been able to stop her as she had fumed,” How could he Father? I thought we were past all that. All we have done together, been to one another, and the first little thing that rears its ugly head, to which Vincent is able to say ‘I told you so’, he grasps with all his might, and slaps me in the face with it. I’m sorry Father, but I am through with him. I would never have taken so much from any other man, I would have dumped him long ago.” Father had listened to her ranting with concern and sorrow. “Vincent is no ordinary man Catherine,” he said softly. “You knew that from the onset”. Swinging round she confronted him again, “And don’t I know it! Do you not think I have made enough allowances for that,” she seethed. “ Vincent is everything to me, but he just isn’t capable of believing that. And I am through trying to convince him.” Flopping into the chair, Catherine sat, chest heaving, unable to say another word. Father had looked across at Devin, at Marie and Geraldine as they sat dumb-struck across the table from him, shocked into silence by her outburst, and finally when he was unable to take the silence any longer, Devin spoke up. “Perhaps we should try to find him, make him see how badly he is behaving.” “No!” Everyone was surprised by Marie’s sudden outburst. And then Catherine felt her own senses reel as a flood of emotions passed through the Bond, reaching out to her for understanding. Devin saw her face, “What is it Catherine, can you feel something, is he calling to you?” “Yes.” “Me too”, Marie added, “I feel him too.” Catherine sank into the comfy chair and visibly groaned. “Cathy what is it?” Father encouraged her gently as her eyes filled with first sorrow and then horror. With Catherine unable to utter a word, Devin turned to Marie, “What is he saying Marie, do you know?” “Only see him, not hear him.” she replied softly, and as her thoughts grasped the image she withdrew into herself, unable to believe what she was seeing. At last Catherine was able to speak, “Vincent.... He has gone Below, deep below into the bowels of the earth. He asks that no-one follow him, or try to see him. He,” she wiped a hand across her weary brow, as one would a violent headache, “he is setting the dark one free.” “NO!” I don’t believe it! but why Catherine, why?” Father exclaimed. “He feels that all his life, the dark one has been taunting him while held at bay, now is the time to confront that side of his make-up, to set him free, to be the beast.” “Then we must go to him bring him back, reason with this folly, his heart cannot withstand the conflict, the dark side will surely kill him.” Father replied. “No, it will not.” Geraldine spoke with conviction. “Only if he were the two beings at once, would one try to outwit the other, only if a conflict went on between them would he find his heart had not the strength to complete the conquest. But as it is, to release the beast, he will have only the lion’s heart, and it will not harm him.” “Then perhaps you should go, you have this same make-up, you can reason with him, make him understand.” Devin asked her. “No! you do not know what you are asking of me, Devin. You, all of you, must stop thinking of the man Vincent, for the time being he no longer exists, you have to think of him only as the beast. In doing that Devin, would you have me sent into the lion’s den?” Devin laughed, “You make it sound so serious, Gerry. Vincent has done this before. The dark one has taken him over in the past, but we have always managed to bring him back, we can do it again.” “Not this time.” Catherine spoke up softly. “To go down there to where he is would be a danger to us. He means it this time Devin, he has set free the beast, there is no turning back, until he says so. This time he is lost to us.” “I cannot believe that Catherine. I mean no disrespect, but neither you, nor Gerry nor Marie, know Vincent the way Father and I do, we can go down there and bring him back, and I believe I am right, that Gerry and Marie would have a better chance. Being as it were, more equipped to deal with him in this state.” And so as to enforce his meaning he stroked the scar upon his face that Vincent had wielded there many years before. “You still don’t get it do you?” Exasperated, Gerry took his hand. “My love, I know how you are thinking, but you are wrong. In the past it would seem that Vincent has had an inward fight with the beast within, I know this fight. Mama knows this fight, we have three ways open to us, we can be half a cat and half the human, or be the cat or be the human, no more and no less.” Catherine allowed her words to sink in. Realisation slowly dawned, “Just a moment, Gerry, what did you just say? There are three ways open to you, tell me again, and explain as you go.” Geraldine smiled, glad that Catherine at least, was beginning to understand. “You have seen, all of you, within Vincent and within ourselves” she indicted herself and her mother, “the half human half cat creature. Neither whole in either, always at conflict within ourselves, the dominant side at the time always cursing the other side. In my head I hear two voices, one which says I should, one which says I shouldn’t. It is not a question of conscience, when your mind tells you yes or no, it is not like that. The voice is in the members and not just in the mind. It is a constant warring, sometimes frightening, sometimes exciting, and it doesn’t take much to evoke a stronger direction to either one within us.” She paused, allowing for a response, none came, so went on, “ Then there is the complete cat side, to be totally tiger, or in Vincent’s case, totally lion, as with Mama, the same, and believe me this is not something I have ever had the courage to try. One has to be in a great deal of anguish with the daily conflict of both to even consider it. This is, I fear what has happened to my brother.” She paused again, and waited, surely now would come some questions. She wasn’t disappointed; Catherine was the first to speak. “Then, let me get this right, Gerry, if you can be both, and then can be one, or other, and Vincent has been both and now...he, has given in to the beast... what then?” she hardly dared to hope. Geraldine smiled, “Yes Catherine your thoughts are running along the right lines. By allowing oneself to become the beast, the total beast without the intervention of the human element, to actually come through that, though, do not be miss-lead, believe me this could take years, then and only then can emerge the total human.” “Do you mean in every way?” Devin asked in disbelief, “ I mean in features as well as thoughts?” “Does not the dark one come to the fore when allowed to do so, completely?” “I do not know Gerry, I have only ever seen half and half.” “Then know this Devin, Vincent will have, by now, become the total beast, or in his case, the total lion, you will not know him and he will not know you. Nor will he know Catherine, or their son. This is a frightening quest he has undertaken, and you should admire him for finding the courage to try it, and I’ll tell you this, if I find it works for him I too will attempt it.” “You still haven’t answered Devin’s question” Catherine anticipated her answer. “No, I’m sorry, I lost track. So, Vincent has allowed the beast to rule, and when he is satisfied that he has achieved all he can achieve as a lion, he will embark on the final metamorphosis, to become totally human.” “Yes, but how total?” Devin repeated his earlier question, almost afraid to ask, to believe. “So that no longer will he be different from any other man, no more different to you, or to Father, to Pascal or to Mouse, just as the fairy tale tells it Devin, the beast will become the Prince.” Catherine drew in a sharp breath; “You mean his face... his hands...” Gerry nodded, “Yes, human.” Father exploded! “Rubbish! This cannot be! It is wicked, wicked lies!” Geraldine looked pityingly at him, but Devin believed, and so did Catherine. *** *** *** “Oh God, Cathy, I’m so sorry, I was wrong, so dreadfully, dreadfully wrong. You are pregnant after all, but there’s still a problem, one far worse than I could have possibly imagined. Oh, Cathy, what are we to do?” “Peter, for god’s sake, tell me?” The words erupted from Catherine, whatever could be worse than being pregnant after all? “Cathy, its the babies, they are growing inside your fallopian tube, its not blocked after all, except by the babies of course. Its really serious Cathy, life threatening, do you know what I am saying to you.” Peter’s dear face was etched with worry, as he tried to make Catherine understand the situation, while all she seemed to want to do was smile. “Backtrack Peter, what did you say?” Exasperated, Peter sighed, “Cathy, haven’t you heard a word I said, this is a dangerous medical situation, you could die, we have to operate at once.” “No, Peter, not that bit, what did you say before that, did my ears deceive me, or did you say babies as in two, rather than baby as in one.” Peter counted the living forms upon the screen, and let out another great sigh, “I mean babies as in five. Cathy, you’re expecting a litter!” Catherine wasn’t the type to swoon and faint, but this time she made an exception. Coming round to smelling salts held beneath her nose, she choked, and hoped that the past few moments had been some ghastly dream. Staring open eyed at Peter, she whispered, “Tell me, it isn’t true?” “Which bit?” Peter asked her, relieved to have her back. “Five babies, Peter, what will I do with five babies, I don’t even have Vincent with me anymore.” “Yes, I’m sorry about that too, Cathy, if I had kept my trap shut, that would not be a problem for you, and neither I am afraid will you have to worry about bringing up five babies. Catherine, you have to understand, that when it comes to eptopic pregnancies, only one party lives, either the mother or the baby, but in a case like this, there is no choice, for we cannot allow five embryos to develop in the fallopian tube.” “What are you saying Peter?” “We have to terminate Cathy, it is the only option.” “No! Peter, No. I won’t let you, there has to be another way, there has to be, I cannot allow you to destroy Vincent’s children.” “There is one other such a way, Cathy, but inadvisable. We have to operate no matter what, or the babies will grow and grow until the fallopian tube explodes and then you will surely die, there is no two ways about it. So all I can suggest is that we try to transplant the embryos into your uterus and hope that some if not all of them survive the transition. That is the best we can hope for.” “Then this you must do Peter.” Catherine begged him. “There is only one drawback, Cathy, it will mean complete bed rest for you until the babies are due to be born. Which means of course that you will have to remain Below until that time, do you think you can do that?” “Do I have a choice, Peter. You know full well that since Vincent left, I could not bear to be there without him, not knowing where he is, what he has become. It is painful to me, to think of him in that depraved state. If any of his powers of reason are still intact, it must be degrading to him to have to be that way, I fear even if Vincent should return, it will not be the same Vincent, this experience will have changed him forever. I don’t know if I ever want to see that, its a frightening thing he is undertaking, and know one knows how it will turn out, least of all Vincent.” “And yet you shown such possessiveness toward the life of his unborn children, and here I am offering you the chance to be completely free of him, of all traces of him.” “Peter! how could you say that. It is unthinkable. These are my children too, born of the love Vincent and I shared after our marriage. No matter what Vincent has become, I still love him; I will always love him. No-one will ever come between that love, my possessiveness is not just for our children, it is for Vincent too, he belongs to me, as I to him.” The tears flooded unchecked down Catherine’s face, as great sobs shuddered through her body, and Peter thought for the thousandth time, that this dear young girl had taken more of life’s knocks than most. Yet could pick herself up, brush off the dust and still stand tall and erect with pride in her heart. Yet this forthcoming problem would be a great test for her, and he could only wonder at the eventuality. “All right Cathy, I’ll perform the operation, you have to realise though that this has to be done in a hospital, and after the operation you must rest in the hospital for at least a month, and then we will have you transferred Below. And then the best we can hope for is that nothing goes wrong during the transfer, for this will be the greatest risk.” “Can I not stay at the hospital?” “What until the babies are due?” “Yes, surely you could arrange for a private room, I have the money.” “Perhaps Cathy, but what about Jacob?” Catherine groaned, dear Jacob, she had forgotten him in all of this. At present with living in her apartment, Jamie brought him to see her every day, and some nights he would stay with her. He could not survive the strain of being without both his father and his mother for any length of time; he was no ordinary child. “Then perhaps I could stay at my apartment, and bed-rest there.” “Cathy, do you take me for a fool. After a few days, maybe a few weeks, you will get fed up of all this bed-rest, and you will act careless. Perhaps a few steps here, a few steps there, more as your confidence grows, and you take the risk of undoing all my work in trying to save these babies. Only if I feel it would be safe to get up and walk about a little could you do it, but I won’t be able to ascertain this until at least two weeks after the operation. So Catherine, you have the choice to either stay Below, or we will see about getting you a private bed at the hospital, and move you Below as soon as possible.” Catherine’s pain filled eyes met Peter’s concerned ones, “I have no choice Peter, not at the risk of forsaking Jacob, I have to go Below.” “Then, wait here, while I re-arrange my day, and bring in a locum to cover my appointments, and I’ll drive you to the hospital myself.” “So soon.” “Yes, Catherine, there is no time to lose, every minute those embryos are growing is a risk you cannot afford to take. I will get word to Father at once.” “Make sure he knows to tell Jamie not to bring Jacob to the apartment tonight, its a long journey for one so small, to only get there to turn back again.” “I will, now if you would wait in reception for me, I’ll only be a few minutes, I have some calls to make.” *** *** *** A gnawing hunger filled his belly, down to his very soul, that would not be appeased by the mere hardtack in Vincent’s pack. More was needed. A red sea engulfed his vision, dripping red waters, swirling through his mind, like a torrent caught in a whirlpool, bubbling in a frothy pink clot along its path of descent. The hunger grew and rumbled like thunder across the ocean of the sea, a red sea, and Haid’es knew that the time had come when he had to sate his hunger, despite how abhorrent that felt deep, deep down inside. Leaping from crag to crag, silently, effortlessly, Haid’es moved. Muscles rippling in a lithe body, beneath taut skin, golden skin, shrouded by an ebony mane that merged into the shadows, so that any light at all, picked out only the golden fur and the glint of nefarious eyes. Sure footed he padded, senses attuned to the hunt, listening, watching, sniffing, as he made his way Above. In the darkened corners of New York’s city streets, Haid’es made his exit through a derelict basement, leapt upon a rooftop and waited. The street was silent and dark, very dark, the lights from the neon lamps smashed long ago, their glass littered the floor, never to be swept away, for none had a care to enter this area, and for a few that did, would not care to sweep the glass away. Haid’es waited, knowing his patience would be rewarded, and as the adrenaline coursed through his veins, his hunger subsided, now replaced by the excitement that stirred in the pit of his belly and filled his whole being. A slight movement far ahead invaded his hearing so acute that it came like the sound of a thunder clap overhead. Haid’es shuffled forward, craning his head to see around the corner of the rooftop, and his eyes were rewarded with a delicious sight, as a large dog came into view. Somewhere deep inside him, a small sigh escaped at the sight of the dog. It was after all, favourable to a man. The crunch of glass, followed by a yelp of pain, was nothing in comparison to the sudden bloodcurdling cries of the dog in death throes, as Haid’es tore at the unyielding body, and the smell of warm blood assaulted his senses. Dragging the body down into the basement, Haid’es gorged his fill, and appeased, returned deep down Below to sleep. So were the nights of Haid’es, the desire to kill, to feed, the satisfaction of being free, free from the human body that had enchained him, free from the prison of solitude that had held him captive. He vowed never to return, never to allow the tiny little voice that rose through his sleeping subconscious’s, to invade the freedom he had been granted. The beast now reigned in glory as only a king can, and he roared in triumphant release. *** *** *** Mich’ael Reidel unpacked his belongings, preparing to stay at the hotel for some time. If he could have parted company with Johannes Kogler he would have done, for both wanted different things, he could see that now. On the flight from LA to New York, Mich’ael had been shocked to find that Kogler’s intention was only to seek Geraldine and Marie to kill them, whereas he, Mich’ael, had believed that they were to take them back to Austria, back to the institute, to continue Strasser’s experiment. Mich’ael did not want this either, but at least, he finally admitted to himself, there he could see Marie again, for he had truly missed his time spent with her, teaching her about life. She had been a very willing student, and he had hoped to turn his attention to Geraldine, to see if she could be taught also. Perhaps, with Strassers quest to create a lion that could speak like a man, he had bypassed a great discovery, that of creating a man that had the thoughts and the instincts of the lion, vice versa instead, and in ways which they could have used to the full potential. All it would take was teaching human language to these creatures. Mich’ael knew that what had been lost was a great advancement in science, and he wasn’t about to let Kogler terminate that, besides, a small niggling thought kept brushing tiny fingers across his heart, which he refused to acknowledge, that he loved Marie, as a man would love a woman. And so the least he could do was insist that they had separate rooms at the hotel, and had been jubilant to find that with the approach to the 4th of July celebrations most of the hotels had been full. Leaving Mich’ael and Kogler to seek a room in different hotels. In different parts of the city and for this Mich’ael felt blessed. *** *** *** Now that the Bond between Catherine and Vincent had been closed off, Father relied more and more upon Marie’s sense of her son, to tell him all he needed to know, yet he felt her reluctance to tell him anything, and Marie only complied to ease his unrest. On one such day as they were all sat around the table with the absence of Catherine and Vincent, Marie was relating to Father, Devin and Gerry just what it was she was able to see in her mind’s eye at the time. She shuddered as images of him flashed through her mind, this beast was not the son she had grown to love, and without the bond such as he could open up to Catherine, Marie had no way of reaching out to him, to bring back the son she knew. “What do you see Marie, please tell us?” Father beseeched her, as he did every day since Vincent had left. Marie drew in and let out a deep sigh. “ I see only a lion,” she would say, day after day. Unrelenting, Father would not accept the answer, could not believe that Vincent could alter, so much so, that his whole outward appearance took on anything less than a man. “I miss him so much”; Father said one day, voicing his thoughts. Startled Marie had looked up, and leaning across the table had taken his hands in her own, as Father went on, “ I never thought a day would come when my heart would grieve me so dreadfully. Not even when my dear wife died, did I feel such pain, such sorrow. I cannot possibly imagine Vincent the way that you see him, nor can I begin to hope that what Gerry feels is taking place down there, will come to pass. It is all I have ever dreamed for Vincent to be like any other man, yet this is reality we live in, not fictional fantasy, surely I would be wrong to place hope in it.” Gerry leaned across and put her hands over Marie’s as they in turn continued to grasp Father’s hands, “Father?” she asked, upset by the sorrow in those pain filled eyes, “Tell me, have you ever seen the dark one?” “Yes, but like Devin, in Vincent, only half and half.” “At any one of those times, did the dark one ever attain dominance?” “You mean did he ever appear to take Vincent over, so that the Vincent we know and love slipped from sight. Yes, Gerry, this too I have seen. It is not something I wish to recall to mind, it was, simply, frightening.” “And when this occurred,” she asked him gently, as Marie’s hand slipped beneath hers, and Geraldine was able to grasp Father’s hand more fully, “Did his features transform before your eyes?” “Yes. I was terrified.” “What you saw has been experienced before by many others, especially in Africa, where the idea that a human can change into an animal or vice versa is deep-rooted. Have you never heard about the disappearing witch doctor?” “Ho, ho, Gerry, what are you leading into, will you tell me next, that all his life, Vincent has been possessed?” “No, or if he has been, then so have Mama and I. No that is not what I am aiming at all. I wanted to show you that it is not wrong to believe these things, as others most certainly do. For when the witch-doctor miraculously disappears at his death, it is very often a python or some other snake that is seen slithering out of his hut, thus showing that these things are possible, to those with the conviction to believe. For the ability to alter does not lie within the man, but lies within the beast. Have you not heard of werewolves? But as for Vincent, myself and Mama, we know that we were created in a laboratory, we know that we have been crossed with the blood of the mighty cat and the human, and therefore we cannot just change at will like that.” “So what is it you are leading up to, I am afraid my dear that I have lost you.” “Father, you spoke of Vincent’s heart not being able to take the strain of the dark one’s fury, and I told you that was because in the past the two halves fought mercilessly against one another, but as either one or the other, without the conflict, the heart would survive? Well that is true, but what I failed to tell you, what I deliberately held back because of Catherine being here then, was the fact that while the human side can hope for a life-span of seventy, eighty years, perhaps more. The life-span in comparison of a lion is as little as twenty eight or thirty years.” Gerry allowed her words to impact, and Devin froze beside her. “But Vincent is over thirty years old now.” He spoke quietly, reasoning. “Yes, I know. This confrontation with the dark one, should have been allowed to take place long before now, now you will know the import of my words, when I said this thing my brother is undertaking, shows great courage.” Father swallowed hard. What ever it was that Gerry was leading up to, he didn’t like the sound of. Gerry looked at Marie, who nodded for her daughter to continue, not being able to find the words herself to explain this. Though it had to be said, they had to be made to understand. “As a lion, my brother is old, well past his prime, and in many respects this only helps the situation, because the man within will not have such a fight as once he would have had. Yet the man within will only prevail if he has a reason for doing so, in that I mean unless Vincent wants to come back as a man, he could die as a lion, before he has made up his mind, to that of which he wants to be.” “No!” Father and Devin shouted in unison, in shocked disbelief. Gerry went on, quicker now to ease the situation, “If Vincent had not undertaken this thing, the lion within him would have eventually expired, when his life-span came to an end, and Vincent would have forfeited the chance to be the man. Because then the dead lion would have been trapped within Vincent for the duration of the man’s lifetime. And though that would have meant that Vincent would never have to undergo another alter ego. Vincent would also have lost the chance to free himself from the burden of this other side of him. And always he would look like half man, half beast.” “I have noticed,” Father began quietly, “that of late the dark side of Vincent did not come to the fore quite so often. I thought it was simply because of the comfort that Catherine brought to him and of being able to do the things that have always been denied him.” “Yes, that does not surprise me. The lion would have been growing old, and growing tired of never having his dream to be free of the man come true.” Gerry said simply. Her total acceptance of all of this was remarkable, but then again not, considering her own genetic make-up. “So what of yourself. Did you not say, that if it works for Vincent, perhaps you yourself would find the courage to try this.” Devin asked her. “Yes, I am still young enough to do it, Mama is not, but then Mama would have no need to try, she is first born, and is more human than lion. Therefore Mama, though having the Bond, does not have the same deep conflict within her members that Vincent and I know, who have more of the lion and tiger genetic makeup within us.” “Going back to Vincent, what you are saying bluntly put, is that having left it too late in setting free the dark one, he could die while in that state, and not ever return to us?” Devin asked her. “Yes. Though he showed courage in doing this, I cannot imagine why he left it so long to try.” she told him. “That’s because my dear, I don’t think Vincent ever knew of this, not even in subconscious thought, he never spoke of it, gave any indication of it. And I am sure that had he of known there was the slightest chance of being a man, he would have tried this long, long ago.” Gerry shuddered, this she had not known, “Then Father that is unfortunate, for if Vincent does not know what he is doing, then really, there can only be one outcome.” “No! I refuse to believe that. Surely there is something you can do Gerry. You must go down to him, must try this for yourself to save him, it is the only thing to do.” Father exploded, tears running unchecked down his face. He had never felt so wretched and helpless in all his life. “Father, be that I could, I would. But what do you think will occur if I should do this thing, and I too become the tiger, or perhaps the lion for indeed I have both within my members, can you not see what would take effect here? Are you so blind as to see what putting a male and a female lion together will bring forth?” “You cannot be serious, Gerry, he is your brother for god sake,” Devin almost laughed at the absurdity. “When the human facet is lifted Devin, there is only the beast, does not a cat have kittens that she loves and adores, and yet when they have gone from her to a new home, and at some stage re-united, does she recognise them, as her long lost kittens? I think not, Devin. She hisses and lashes at them with her claws, seeing only a rival, or a mate, and nothing more. So too it would be with Vincent and I. Would you have me undertake this folly? Do you think Vincent could live with that, could Catherine, could you?” Placing his head into his hands, Gerry could only hear him utter, “But he is my brother, if I thought I could help him, I would, if anything stood in my way of doing that I would crush it, but come what may, I would try.” Lifting his head, he spoke softly with conviction, “ I am going down there to him, I have to do.” Placing a hand on his arm, as he made to rise, Gerry stilled him, “No, Devin. If your love for your brother is such that you are prepared to do this thing, then my love for you is such that I will go in your place. After all...” she said retracting and detracting her claws to enforce her meaning, “ I am so much better equipped.” Devin did not know how to thank her, knowing her misgivings, it meant so much, he simply put his arms around her and hugged her, “thank you”, he said softly. *** *** *** To be continued in Chapter Five.