Featured Creature: Reunion at the Merrimon Library Part IX, Deidre's Warning

Reunion at the 

Merrimon Library:
Part IX, 
Deidre's Warning

~ Continued from Part VIII ~

Alan fought to open his eyes.  He was warm and comfortable and sedated within ease.  He felt as though his brain were wrapped tight in a thick comforter.  There was a warm and gentle pressure against his palm.  He woke to someone holding his hand.  When he finally got his eyes to open he struggled to focus on the figure at his side.  It was Deidre.  He squinted into wakefulness and offered a weak smile.  Deidre smiled back.

"Hi."

"Hi yourself."  She leaned in closer and rested her other hand on his forearm.  They sat silently for a moment and enjoyed a quiet reunion.  They both tried to hold back, but soon there were tears.  They held on to each other in the silence for a long while.

"I came as quickly as I could."  Her eyes were glassy.  He could tell she had not slept in some time.

"How long have I been out?"

"Two days."

Two days!  He felt his face flush.  He shifted with anxiety at the revelation.  Was the ritual successful?  Was the Gate closed?  What happened to Tim's body?  Just then his somber responsibility settled in on him and he breathed deep to calm himself.  He looked at Deidre directly.  He sighed and held her hand tightly.  

 "Deidre, I - Tim is -"

"I know."  She looked at him earnestly and offered a weary smile.  She patted his hand softly.  "I had a vision."   Her face darkened and she squeezed his hand.  As long as Alan had known her, Deidre had prophetic visions.  He had been present for several as they took her over.  They were a cruel gift, often leaving her incapacitated for days after with debilitating headaches and sometimes even physical wounds.

"Luckily, I was at home when it hit me.  I'd just gotten out of the shower when my stomach got really upset.  I went to the kitchen to make myself some tea when the vision hit me.  I saw Tim open the gate and then...everything else.  The last thing I saw was you completing the ritual of banishing and a bright light following.  I blacked out after that and woke up with a migraine and a bloody nose.  I haven't really slept much since."

She got up and poured them both small cups of water.  She stood at the window and stared into the pale winter sky.  "I thought you and Tim had both died.  I called all the hospitals here until I found where they had taken you.  I took the next red eye here.  You were alive, but they had no information on Tim at all.  They didn't even have a body."

"Deidre.  I'm sorry.  I never thought h- "

"Don't apologize.  You couldn't have known.  I never wanted things to end up this way for him.  That's why I stopped seeing him when we were at Austrum."

"What do you mean?"

"I broke it off with Tim because I had a vision of this, of his death.  I knew what his fate was.  I saw it shortly after we first got together.  I was so afraid.  I didn't understand my visions then and I thought that if we stayed together I would be responsible for leading him to his death.  I couldn't accept that."

"Why didn't you say something Dee?" 

"I don't know.  I was afraid that if I spoke it out loud that would somehow help it happen.  I guess I was hoping that this was the one vision that I could change.  Tim never truly believed in anything he couldn't touch and I felt like I couldn't convince him otherwise.  I thought if I walked away, distanced myself from him, I could stop him from going down that path.  If he and I weren't involved he'd have no cause to get involved in the Arts.  I should've known better."  She sighed.  Fresh tears dotted her cheeks.  "What's worse is on a certain level I'm grateful that it's over.  I feel so guilty because it is finally done and I'm glad I don't have to carry it around anymore."  She wiped away her tears.  She turned back toward him.  She looked weary and worn.  "This isn't why I came Alan.  I needed to see you in person.  I had a second vision...of you."

Alan sat in silence as the weight of dread settled upon him.

"I saw you much older.  I couldn't tell how old you were, but your hair was completely white.  The things that took Tim returned and you were forced to fight them again.  I saw a choice leading you towards two paths.  If you choose to continue on the path that you are on right now and limit yourself only to a research of the Arts...you will die at the hands of these creatures.  However, if you begin your practice of the Arts once again, it can save your life the way it did at the library."

"Not much of a choice."  Alan cringed. In the library he had used the Magick because his life and that of others were directly in danger, but to step again into the maelstrom of the Arts.  After everything he'd already lost.  It was too much.  He sighed.

"Whatever you choose, you have to be more careful now Alan.  This isn't over.  The things that took Tim...they've marked you.  You aren't safe anymore.  They know who you are."  Deidre moved over to her purse and took out a small mirror.  She handed it to him.  He refocused his eyes until his face came into view inside the small circle.  At his left temple his dark hair was interrupted by a three inch wide streak of silver.

~ Continued in Part X ~

 

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