Oblivion 2 Chapter Seven “And I saw another wild beast ascending out of the earth... (Revelation 13 v 11) “Vincent!” Overjoyed Catherine slipped from the bed to run to her husband, and hug him tightly to her. “Oh Vincent, it is so good to have you back.” Holding her at arms length he looked down tenderly into her tear filled eyes. “I owe you my life, yet again, my love,” He told her, “But for you, I don’t know what would have become of me. I don’t like to think about it.” Catherine searched his eyes, his face. He looked the same, but somehow he was different. “What is it Catherine?” He asked her, sensing her mood through the Bond. “You’ve changed Vincent?” “Yes. Not externally, nothing you can see, but I know I that I have, I feel it in here.” He patted his heart, “I feel complete, as if all my life I have searched for my other self and have only now found it.” Catherine nodded; it was like Geraldine had said then. “Hearing her unspoken words through the Bond, Vincent prompted her, “What did Geraldine say?” “That if you allowed the beast to reign you yourself would undergo a state of metamorphosis and from it would emerge totally as a human. She said the beast would die, and you would be free of him.” Vincent shook his head, this was hard to believe.” ”I do know that the beast died. I felt his life ebb away from him. Can this be true? I must speak to Gerry, how does she know this?” “Gerry has not yet returned. She, Devin and Marie went in search of you, and Gerry has not yet returned. It is feared she may be lost.” “What! How did she come to be by herself?” Catherine related to Vincent all that had been told to her, concluding, “Devin and Pascal have gone below in the hope of finding her.” “Can he not reach her through the Bond?” “Devin is not as expert as I at using the Bond the other way on, and Gerry has made no contact to him in days.” “Then I have to go too, Catherine, I cannot leave them to search for her alone.” “Vincent No! Call me selfish, but I too need you, and you have just returned from a very wearisome experience. You must rest.” Vincent looked at her with a twinkle of mischief in his eye; “You have contradicted yourself Catherine. How can I rest when I am with you?” “Oh Vincent,” She said, crumbling back against him, “ I have missed you so much. Can you remember all that I told you?” “No, only that without you I would never have made the journey. Your coaxing led me home. So what is your news?” “Give me your hand Vincent.” Taking it she laid it upon her stomach, “Here Vincent beneath my heart lies life. Peter was wrong, you and I have created life again.” “Catherine, this is wonderful. Oh but had I of known, I should never have left. When is the baby due?” “Babies” Catherine grinned. “Pardon Catherine?” “Babies Vincent, there is more than one.” She told him, gleefully, watching the expression on his face. “Twins Catherine?” “No. More than two Vincent.” “More than two!” His face was a picture. “Three?” He asked hopefully. Gaily Catherine laughed, “Yes Vincent three, but do you know what?” “Tell me?” “There were five.” Vincent’s mouth dropped open, “Five” He croaked in disbelief. Catherine was over their deaths now, living only for the survivors. “Yes my love, I was expecting a litter, but unfortunately we lost some, still three is good don’t you think?” Playacting, Vincent groaned, “Of course Catherine whatever you say,” then seeing her plaintive expression, he pulled her into his arms, “Oh Catherine, three is marvellous. How I love you, little mother.” *** *** *** Father was reading the latest newspaper. “Ho, ho,” He laughed, “Well fancy that, the President’s men have been unable to find any beast. I expect they will give up now.” He read on, “Oh no!” “What is it Jacob?” Mary asked him concerned. “That isn’t the end of it,” he told her, “they intend to actually come inside the tunnels and search for him. Even the President himself is going along with the team. We cannot allow this, we have to do something and quickly.” “Jacob, if you would permit me to make a suggestion?” Mary tentatively enquired. With troubled eyes, Father looked into her kind face, and nodded weakly. “Elizabeth and I were talking about this problem just this morning, we came up with an idea.” “Yes Mary, anything, please help me if you can. Help us all.” “We have to make the President believe that the whole thing was a hoax. But for that, he will stop at nothing until he finds the beast.” “This I am well aware of. What is the idea?” Elizabeth has an old costume. One left over from Halloween, that she had intended mending but never got around to. It is tattered and torn, and very hairy. In fact on a dark night one could mistake it for a very old lion, we believe anyway. We thought if we take some of the synthetic hair and place it strategically in the tunnels just off the basement leading into Dead Men’s Alley, and then a bit further along leave the costume lying in the dirt. Perhaps, just perhaps we could convince the President that the whole thing was indeed a hoax. What do you think?” “Think? Mary, it’s marvellous. Come show me this evil looking monster, and lets get cracking on the dirty deed shall we?” Overjoyed, Father hobbled behind Mary towards Elizabeth’s chamber. As soon as he saw it, Father knew it would work. “I can just see their faces now.” He laughed, “I wonder if it will make the front page spread?” “Who is going to take it down there Jacob?” Mary asked him. “Now that’s a point, isn’t it. Who is actually available? Vincent is indisposed, Catherine too, Devin is down with Narcissa awaiting Gerry’s return, though they are taking their time, newlyweds, huh! And I can hardly ask the team that have just brought Vincent back can I? They are exhausted. Who do you think could do this?” “Yes it is a difficult one, I think it should be put before the council, though there is no time to gather everyone together. Apparently the President and his team set off before the day is out and everything needs to be in place before then. I don’t know what we can do.” “There is something else we must do too. After planting the costume, we must close off that entrance, so that no one is tempted to explore. We have to stage a cave-in, one that looks as if it happened a long time ago. How to do it that’s the problem.” “What problem Father?” “Arh Vincent, come in, Catherine too, good, maybe you two can throw some light on this problem we have.” Father outlined the idea, and finished with, “So who can we send?” Vincent looked at Catherine knowingly. “Oh no, Vincent.” She began, but the look in his eyes stilled her. “I will go Father,” he stated flatly, “Our world is at stake here, and it is because of me, again, that the problem exists. There is no one else, for I can travel so much faster than most, I can be there and back by tomorrow. I may even find Devin somewhere so he can help me.” Reluctantly Father nodded. “All right Vincent, but we won’t just assume you may meet with Devin, I will put word out on the pipes that he is to meet you, and you can do the deed together, only Vincent, do take care, if you were spotted....” “I know Father. Try not to worry, I’ll be back.” “Famous last words”, Catherine commented dryly. *** *** *** Catherine could not believe that Vincent was leaving again so soon. “Oh my darling,” she told him, hugging him close, rubbing her cheek against his chest, “there is so much we haven’t yet done.” She looked up into his face, with the unmistakable look of desire in her eyes. “I think Catherine we have done too much of that already.” He said, patting her stomach affectionately, and smiling down at her. “Oh Vincent, we will never have done it too much, every time is as the first, just beautiful, and I need you so. Hurry back my darling, I miss you already.” Reaching up she kissed him, a deep kiss full of promise. A kiss that lingered on and on. “After that my love, how can I not.” Vincent told her when they eventually drew apart, “I love you Catherine, try not to worry, I will be home by this time tomorrow, and then we have all our lives.” His blue eyes twinkled brightly, tantalisingly, and Catherine laughed hugging him tightly. “Okay Vincent, be off with you then, for the sooner you are gone the sooner it will be this time tomorrow, and then I will hold you to your promise. Keep in touch Vincent, if not together at least we can keep contact through our Bond.” Devin received Father’s message. He was still awaiting Gerry at Narcissa’s, worried at the length of time it was taking her to return. “Where can she have got to Narcissa?” He asked the old woman. Narcissa made up a concoction before him and prattled “Whatever has come to be, its name has already been pronounced, and it has become known what man is, and he is not able to plead his cause with one that is more powerful than he is.” Devin knew she had quoted from the Bible, yet he could not understand what she was driving at. It depended which way one looked at it. Which one of the two was more powerful? Gerry or her other self? Sensing his anxiety Narcissa patted his arm. “You are right to be anxious,” she told him, “The-ri’on reigns now and you will have to tread carefully.” “Theri what?” Devin asked her. The-ri’on. It is Greek,” she told him. “Greek for what? What does it mean Narcissa, do you know?” Narcissa nodded, and muttered some words, that Devin did not understand. “Can you repeat that please?” He asked her. Narcissa turned misty far away eyes toward him. “Yes,” she replied. Then repeated, “ The-ri’on. It conveys a meaning that you would not wish to be told. Just know the name and shudder.” “Narcissa I have to know, tell me, please.” Narcissa nodded, speaking slowly, “ Cruel, destructive, frightful, ravenous...” She said and whispered the last word, “monster”. Devin gasped, he did not believe her, could not believe that Gerry would have decided to alter, not after speaking with him. She was so against it anyway, and with Vincent now returned, there was no need. Yet what had she once said, ‘If it worked for Vincent, she may try it.’ Would she? Had she? And what if she had, didn’t she tell him that he must not follow her, for she would not know him, and would cause him danger. Try as he might Devin wanted to make contact through the Bond, but he wasn’t quite sure how that operated yet via himself, and Gerry had made no further contact since the time he had taken Mich’ael to Marie. Filled with trepidation, Devin found he had no option but to seek her, but first he would wait for Vincent. If Narcissa were right, he would need Vincent’s help. *** *** *** While they waited, Father entertained Mich’ael Reidel. There was such a lot he wanted to know. Though Marie and Geraldine had answered many of his questions into Vincent’s creation there was such a lot more that Mich’ael knew. Father warmed to the man, he could see he was very kind hearted, and cared deeply for Marie. “So what do you think then Mich’ael of the way Vincent and Gerry are able to alter into their other darker side?” “To be honest Jacob, I can accept the possibility of this. Ignatz used to say that he had seen Geraldine do this, but I just thought it was another whim of his. I am afraid Ignatz and I rarely saw eye to eye, much the same with Han’s, he is so much like Ignatz, except for the ruthlessness. I am afraid that Ignatz bordered on perverted bloodlust. You know if the Roman Theatres were in existence today, I could see Ignatz creating people like Vincent to take part in them, he was that sort of man.” “And what of this other fellow, Han’s Kogler, will he pose any threat to this community?” “Perhaps. I really ought to go Above to his hotel, he will be wondering about me. I wouldn’t want him to stir up the authorities further and get search parties out for me down here. That’s the last thing you need isn’t it?” “Lord yes, but if you want to stay I can get word to him through one of the helpers that you are well.” “Would you? That would be most kind. I do want to stay. In fact if you would allow me Jacob, I should like to come here to live for always.” “I thought you would ask that. Of course it is up to the council but I don’t think Marie would ever forgive me if I refused.” Thoughtfully he went on, “Sometimes I worry so much about Vincent. Not knowing his make up, that I wonder what to expect next, it will perhaps be an asset to have you here. Though, since Catherine has come into his life, he has accepted more fully his human side. You haven’t met their son have you?” “They have a child? But I thought that they had only recently married.” “Yes that is so, but they had a child before that. He is a year old now. They named him after me.” “And does he look like his father?” “No, actually he looks human. Of course we don’t know how he will develop. And we try to keep him Below, though recently he has been with Jamie to visit Catherine while she was in hospital.” “Catherine was in hospital, whatever for?” “Mich’ael you amaze me. Two days you have been here, and you hardly know anything. Whatever have you and Marie been doing, no don’t answer that, I thought she would have filled you in on everything by now.” Mich’ael smiled, “Marie’s English is not good, and her German has become rusty, but this is true, we haven’t done a lot of talking. It took me some time to realise how I felt about her, and then when I did, I didn’t believe such a relationship was credible. It wasn’t until I spoke with Devin, and learned he had married Geraldine, and Catherine had married Vincent, that I began to realise such a relationship wasn’t impossible after all. You know, Jacob, though I have yet to ask Marie, I would be honoured if you would conduct our wedding ceremony, if she accepts my proposal.” “And I would be honoured to accept. My, my, my, only three special people in the world, like Vincent, and I get to conduct the ceremony of all their marriages. That must be some kind of record, certainly it has been a great honour for me, one which I treasure dearly.” “Going back to Catherine, Jacob, you didn’t say why she has been in hospital.” “No, I didn’t did I, Catherine was expecting five babies, and had to have complete rest, she lost two of them, and has come Below now to continue resting where we can all keep an eye on her. The babies of course will be born Below.” “This too is interesting. Five babies huh? One concedes that because she was having five, she was actually having a litter, yet this is not so. This multiple birth was not due to genetic defect, does Vincent and Catherine realise this?” “I don’t even think I do, please go on?” “Never, have I heard of a large cat, having so many babies. Humans yes, but big cats no, why even in a domestic cat it would be rare. Tell me, are the babies to be identical, or do you not yet know?” “Yes, we do know, and no they are not. The babies were growing in the fallopian tube, and had to be transplanted. I remember distinctly Catherine’s GP telling me that they had to transplant five separate sacs, does that answer your question?” “Yes, and its a wonder no-one has thought of it. Does it not tell you anything?” Father shook his head, “No”. “If they were five separate embryos, then they came from five separate eggs. Catherine is a human, her body would control how many eggs were released at any one time, so this is a human thing, Vincent’s genetic make-up would have nothing whatsoever to do with it, save fertilising all those eggs.” Father sat stunned. He was a doctor, yet he had not even thought of that. Peter too, had not seemed to have worked this one out. “Now, had it of been one egg, split five times, then obviously we could conclude that Vincent’s sperm had something to do with this, but as this is not the case, then...” Mich’ael shrugged his shoulders, “it will be interesting to see who the babies look like won’t it Jacob?” “Is there a hidden meaning to that question, Mich’ael?” “Yes and no. I was just thinking how strong the human factor really is. You tell me their son takes after Catherine, and one has to see how he matures to see if this remains the case. Ignatz produced Marie, and then by inseminating her with lion and then tiger sperm, she gave birth to Vincent and Geraldine, at least they were the only survivors, and....” “You mean there were others!” “Oh yes, six in all, I’ll come to that, later”. But Father wasn’t listening. There had been six in all. “Tell me, Mich’ael, tell me about these others.” “After Vincent, there were three more males and a girl, the three males in-between were from the sperm of a different lion, these were all stillborn. The girl had the same Father as Vincent, and she lived two weeks, she was very sickly from birth, and finally Ignatz used Siberian Tiger sperm and we got Geraldine.” “Good God,” Father exclaimed, this Ignatz really was a madman; he’d stop at nothing would he? Father was thoughtful. To think that while Vincent was growing up, believing to be some kind of human mutation, his mother was busy giving birth to his brothers and sisters. What if they had all lived? At that time Ignatz had not any use for males, where would he have sent them? “I know your thoughts Jacob, I have asked myself this so many times, since finding out Vincent is alive, what would have become of all those others after him? It doesn’t bear thinking about does it; they could have ended up anywhere in the world. Fortunately for them, let us see it that way, and not dwell on it Jacob, and fortunately for Marie this was not to be.” “Yes, I’m sorry Mich’ael what was it you had been going to say earlier?” “Well, Ignatz had been so desperately trying to create a lion that could talk, stupid really when you come to think about it, isn’t it? So each time he created one being, and it wasn’t quite right he mixed in more big cat sperm, in the hope that eventually down the line, the big cat side of things would get stronger and stronger, and eventually he would create what he had longed for. In actual fact what seems to have occurred here, is that the human element is so much stronger than that of animals, and drowns out their genetic makeup, so much so, that the offspring is more human than cat. Baby Jacob seems to prove this theory, and hopefully so too will these new babies. The only problem I can foresee therefore is into the future, someone may give birth to a throwback, and this could prove disastrous, could it not. Try explaining to your husband why you have just given birth to a lion cub. Reminds me of a family I know of. The husband and wife were both white, and four of their five children were white. Yet the fourth to be born was half-caste with frizzy hair. Boy, did that woman have a lot of explaining to do. Finally her husband believed her, and together they went looking for their roots. It turned out that hundreds of years ago, one of his great-great-grandmother’s had been a Negro slave. This sharpens my point, someday, someone will, I fear, have this misfortune from Vincent and Catherine’s pro-creation. Really it would have been better if they had remained childless.” “Yes, Mich’ael, I too have wondered about this. When I was a boy my grandfather bred white rabbits for meat. He had generations upon generations of rabbits, you know how they breed, and he had always had white rabbits, imagine his surprise when in one litter there appeared one jet black baby rabbit. He tried breeding from this rabbit to see what he would get, and it always produced blue-grey, never white and never black, it was amazing. So I too have wondered about Vincent’s descendants in this way. However, will you promise me something Mich’ael, that you never tell any of this to Vincent, Gerry or Marie, unless you deem it absolutely necessary, for I think they have been hurt enough. And as to the future, hopefully we will be around long enough to instil the risks firmly into the young ones minds.” “Yes, have no fear Jacob, I will not tell them these things. As you say, they have already suffered more than enough.” *** *** *** When Vincent and Devin finally set out to the lower tunnels to seek Geraldine, they were optimistic, despite the fact that Devin had not heard from her. “It is impossible to use the Bond, when in transition”, Vincent had told him, after they had hugged in greeting, and Devin had told him of his concern for her. “We have to tread carefully Devin, believe me what Narcissa has told you is right. The beast is a monster.” “How much do you remember, Vincent?” “At first I allowed him to reign over me, and then I tried to fight him. Alas he was too much for me, I had no choice but to lie back and accept it. For a time I could see exactly what he was on with, but I was powerless to stop him, and then I seemed to drift into a great slumber, which was difficult to awaken from. Without Catherine using the Bond as she did, I wouldn’t be here telling you this. Devin, without Catherine I could still be as the beast.” “If we find that Geraldine has altered, what am I to do. I cannot speak to her through the Bond, why I don’t even know how to try.” “Catherine used to be that way. Of course she has had years to perfect it, but it is no different to using telepathy. I suggest that you find yourself a quiet place and meditate, flooding all your senses with the love you have for Geraldine, and forcing it out of yourself to infuse her. When you have accomplished it, you literally feel your feelings rushing out of you, and in that moment you know that the recipient has received your message.” “I have to try it, don’t I Vin, without it, I fear for Gerry.” “It could be that she is fighting against the beast herself, and if so, you have already won half the battle. It is strange however, that she hasn’t made contact with you when she gains the upper hand.” “Perhaps she is injured, or, or dead.” He whispered the last. “Do you feel that she is?” “No.” “Then she lives, and is well. Believe me, if she were injured, you would feel her pain, and you would know if she had died.” They walked on through the final chambers, and on into dark and eerie tunnels. “It is such a long time, since I went down so far, yet I remember being here with you. You know Vincent, in my dreams whenever I am running from something, as dreams can be, I always turn into a tunnel for safety, and I always run straight into you. You are my stronghold Vincent, someone to come to for strength when the going gets tough.” “I feel honoured that you should feel this way, if only in your dreams, Devin.” Devin playfully thumped Vincent in the arm, “Not only in my dreams, Vincent.” He told him seriously. “Do you think you will stay living here Devin? But for your commitment, by now you would have had itchy feet and long gone.” “I have to stay for Gerry. Sometimes I do yearn for the life I left, and I would love to see Charles more often. I have wondered about taking Gerry up into the mountains to live. But it is one thing taking a disfigured human being, and another taking along someone who has the features of a large cat, you know what I mean Vincent, I don’t mean to offend.” “Yes, I know what you mean.” “Vincent?” “Yes.” “Would you seriously have undergone the full transition, had it not been for Catherine pulling you back?” “I did not know of these things. It is something I would like to speak to Gerry about. Had I of known, well, it goes without saying. All my life I have longed to be free of this, and these.” he said touching his face and hands, “had I of known then yes, I would most certainly have taken the chance.” “Yet you were altered for some time, several weeks in fact, did it not change you any in that time?” “Oh yes, it did. I do feel different. I felt the beast’s life ebb away from me, I do not know how or why, but I do know that he is no longer a part of me, and though I still bear his make-up externally, internally I am wholly a man. I can only be grateful for this, for unless I look at my hands or my face in a mirror, I feel no different to you or Father.” “So that is good is it not, yet you seem unsure?” “It is good, yet I can’t help thinking it could be a risk to me. Before I knew I was different and would hide in the shadows, now I feel I am a man, it could be dangerous if I should ever temporarily forget how I look on the outside and linger too long Above.” “That reminds me of something I once read in the Bible, let me see now. ‘For anyone who is a hearer of the word, and not a doer.’ Arh, it is the next piece that applies, listen Vincent. ‘This one is like a man looking at his natural face in the mirror. For he looks at himself, and off he goes and immediately forgets what sort of man he is.’ That could be applied in your case, huh, Vincent?” (James Ch. 1 v 23 & 24). “It could have been written for me Devin. That is what I fear.” “Vincent all your life you have lived in fear, fear of being seen. I have seen terrible deformities Vincent that some people have had to bear. Fire victims, cancer victims, I have even seen leprosy in some people, and that Vincent is the worst thing of all, for there is a stench with it, that never goes away, yet these people are members of a society that has learnt to accept them. I know Father meant well when he cut you off from the outside world, but I can’t help wondering how things would have turned out for you, if he had made you known, so that people did not bat an eyelid when they saw you pass by. Some will always stare of course, but it is ignorance that makes them that way. Look at all the people who have come to accept you and love you. The world is full of badness Vincent, but there are an awful lot of good people living among that badness, and you are such a good person, I feel in many respects, that those people have been deprived from knowing you.” “Thank you Devin, but what is done is done, and Father had my best interests at heart.” “I’m not saying he didn’t Vincent, I’m just saying there was more he could have done. I think if we are honest with ourselves, and though Father may not even be aware of it, or refuses to be aware of it, his main reason for keeping you a secret from the world, was for purely selfish reasons, he wanted to keep you for himself.” “NO! I do not believe this, Father would never, never act so selfishly.” “Not intentionally Vincent. You have to look at it from different standpoints, look, I am his son, his own flesh and blood, yet did he tell me he was my father? No, not until I was grown, and did he treat me the way he treated you? No, to an onlooker it would have appeared that you were his son, his own flesh and blood. And I, well I, who spent my entire life trying to please him, to hear him say I love you the way he told it to you, I could have been the one with the differences, for Father shunned me when he took you in. I’m not jealous of you Vincent, I love you, but sometimes just sometimes, I believe you got my share that’s all as well as your own.” “Yet you still see me as your stronghold, Devin, what can I say?” Vincent drew Devin to his side and hugged him as they walked along; “That you can still love me is all I ask for.” “I will always love you Vincent, to me you are wholly a man, inside as well as out, when I look at you I do not see the beast.” “Yet the mirror tells me otherwise.” “Mirrors can lie Vincent. Those made from glass are not the real mirrors. To see ourselves truly we must look into the eyes of those that love us, and then we see what we really are. I quote, ‘For at present we see in a hazy outline by means of a metal mirror, but then it will be face to face. At present I know partially, but then I shall know accurately even as I am accurately known. Now however, there remain faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love’. (1st Corinthians Ch. 13 v 12 & 13). “From the Bible again huh?” “Yes, you should make a habit of studying it Vincent, for I can assure you, you will find a great treasure within its pages, and it will bring such a person as yourself great comfort. Note that scripture alone, it tells us so much about ourselves that a metal mirror belies what we are, in comparison to how others see us, and with love others see us as beautiful. Whereas we, when we see ourselves, we tend to rake ourselves over the hot coals dissatisfied with the way we look. Too fat, too thin, too ugly, too old, too spotty. The list is endless. As the scripture says, we can only come to know ourselves accurately, by the mirror of the eyes of those that look upon us with love.” “Then I would do well to discard the mirror I have in my chamber, and never have to look upon this face again.” “Yes, but I doubt Cathy would approve, I expect she likes to preen herself before a mirror, I have never yet met a woman who doesn’t.” “Till now.” “Pardon me?” “Not until now.” Devin smiled, a cheeky smile, “Do you know what you are saying Vincent?” “I thought I did. Why?” “You have just admitted to being a woman.” Vincent stopped in his tracks, to stare down at Devin “I did not!” “Yes you did, think about it.” Vincent briefly went over their past few words, and burst out laughing, “I didn’t mean myself, you crackpot, I was referring to Gerry.” “I know, but I couldn’t resist pulling your leg.” “I meant Gerry would be the first woman you had met that didn’t like looking in the mirror.” “Wrong again.” Vincent tilted his head to one side, in his unique way, “Why?” He asked Devin. “Gerry is like all the others, I have to drag her away from the mirror, she adores looking into it.” “She does!” Vincent found the news incredulous. “You bet, she stands this way and that, turning herself around for front view, side view, as much back view as she can see. And then says seductively, ‘see how beautiful I am my love, surely you cannot bear to go to work today and leave me’ just like that.” Devin mimicked. Vincent burst out laughing; he could just visualise this. He had seen much of Gerry’s art of seduction toward Devin while on holiday on the boat. Serious again, Vincent looked at Devin for a long time. “What? Have I got soot on my nose or something Vincent? Why are you staring at me like that?” Vincent’s mouth twitched, belying a hidden humour, and his blue eyes twinkled with mischief. “It is one thing to believe that my sister finds herself externally beautiful, and it is quite another to believe that she finds you attractive also.” “ What? I’ll get you for that, Vincent.” “You’ll have to catch me first.” And with that he was gone, leaving Devin stood laughing his head of, at Vincent’s mimicry of his and Gerry’s daily chase around the boat. *** *** *** “Go away, leave me in peace.” Gerry stamped around the dusty floor, shaking her head in frustration. Two days, two long days she had been tormented by her other self. “I am The-ri’on, I am your true self, you cannot deny me.”The cruel, whispering voice told her. “I have seen enough of your hatred already. I do not want to give you your freedom. You disgust me.” “Then you disgust yourself, for I am a part of you.” “No, you and I are separate. You are the beast within, but you are not a part of me.” “Yet I can make you do things that you do not wish to do.” “Yes.” She spat, “I do not deny the hold you have over me, but for that I would be free. There are things you would do that I would never have dreamed of.” “Yet you had this hatred for the man too, but for that I would never have been brought forth.” “People hate, people love, it doesn’t automatically follow that they become split personalities from it. Not like you and I.” “Does not the heart rule the head?” “It is different.” “Why Geraldine, do you know? Though the heart and the head are members of the one body, still they do not live in harmony, there is conflict.” “The heart is more treacherous than anything else.” “I too am treacherous.” “Then you are my heart, and be it that I could tear you out from within myself.” “Then you would die.” “And so would you.” “You hate me so much that you would be prepared to die along with me?” “Yes.” The-ri’on was silent for a few moments, then tried another tactic, in a gentler, coaxing manner “I thought you wanted to do battle with me. On the way here, I could hear your reasoning. You were fighting against bringing me forth, this I know, but you also wanted to alter so much so that you were prepared to set me free, while you underwent the transition.” “Nonetheless, I decided against it.” “Yes, but your reasoning had already awoken me, and I was very near the surface.” “I could have maintained control, if it had not been for the blood of the man.” “Yes, and so it will always be. Every time the scent of fresh blood fills your nostrils, it will drift down deep inside you, and I will stir, always you will do battle with me for freedom.” “And I suppose you have a suggestion.” “But of course. Did not your brother recently make that decision? You could win as he did. All it takes is to try.” The-ri’on tempted her subtly, Geraldine had not known that Vincent had beaten Haid’es. Neither did she know how hard it would have been for Vincent to have awakened but for the Bond he shared with his wife and the love Catherine had poured through it to him. “I see you are tempted?” The-ri’on asked her. “Yes. To be free of you forever, perhaps you are right, perhaps I should set you free, so that we can do battle.” The-ri’on smiled sadistically, thinking, ‘each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire, then the desire when it has become fertile gives birth to sin, in turn sin, when it has been accomplished brings forth death.* Huh, humans are so gullible.’(*James Ch. 1 v 14 & 15) “So what is it to be then?” “I am still deciding.” “You want to be a real woman do you not?” “You know that I do.” “Then what is the problem?” “It is this. You are ruled by evil. You do not want what is best for me, if you did you would lie down and never re-surface. So I am wondering what it is that you intend to gain from this.” “To be free if only temporary, would be enough.”Therion lied. “I do not believe this. I spent my entire life behind bars, and now I am free. It is never enough. Do you think I would humbly allow myself to go back to that life, would you?” “No.” “Then you yourself said it. Once I set you free, you would not willingly go back to captivity, and I do not think I have the strength to fight you for freedom, you would surely win.” “Then you must draw on the strength of those that love you. Would they wish for you to deny yourself this change of being wholly human, just because you are afraid of your inner self?” “Do not try to trip me up The-ri’on, with your smooth talking. Besides those that love me, love me for what I am, they would not love me any more if I looked normal. I already have more than I ever dreamed would be possible for me, and it is enough, more than enough.” “No, you are wrong. You could still have more.” “I do not think so.” “So, you would have me take you by force, the outcome of this will be worse for you.” “Why? Or do you mean for yourself?” The-ri’on grew silent, this other self was indeed very much to be reckoned with, they knew one another too well. “Surely,” went on Gerry, walking around the chamber, “Surely, if I lay down and submitted freedom to you, I would go into a deep sleep, from which it would be hard to prevail over you, yet if I am awake when the battle commences, surely then I will withstand it.” In reply a terrifying roar issued from her mouth, and Geraldine said, “ That you utter this way, tells me I am right, am I not?” She taunted. The-ri’on roared in agitation, and replied apocalypticly, “Then may the battle commence.” Suddenly the breath was knocked from her lungs, and Geraldine fought to overcome the great weight that forced her to the earth, struggling against being sucked down into an abyss so deep that it would be impossible to rise from. The-ri’on had her throat in a tight grasp, and Geraldine’s eyes rolled in death throes. It had all happened so swiftly, and Geraldine had not had time to realise how to respond. She fought against The-ri’on with all her might, but the beast was too strong for her. From deep within her mind, the only place The-ri’on had no hold over, Geraldine did the only thing open to her, she needed the strength of another, and as an all consuming pain hit her, she screamed out Devin’s name. *** *** *** To be continued in Chapter 8.