Click Ch. 09

"Another new young doctor," she said her voice bordering on the hysteric.

"Something like that," I said maintaining my distance from her. "How are they treating you?"

"I can't complain," she said her face twisting up in a mask of pain. "You look strangely familiar... have we met before?"

"Perhaps," I said as I took out my cell phone. She seemed to find the clear rectangle of glass-like material interesting. "May I take your picture?"

"Sure," mom said running her hand through her shorn locks. "How's this?"

"Perfect," I said as I snapped the picture. Her eyes went blank and I felt like something had just died deep inside of me. I had spent the drive up working out the wording of the hypnotic suggestion. It would be clear, precise and to the point. I spoke the words in a slow easy voice and watched the pain and torment leave her. Once I had effectively erased my entire existence from her mind and the birth of her last child I knew she would be okay and be able to live a normal life. That was what was truly important; it was not about my needs it was about her. I loved my mother and I would do anything for her. Thirty seconds later she blinked her eyes, looked at me and then her surroundings. She looked completely lost and confused.

"What am I doing here," she asked. "And who are you? Are you a doctor?"

"No, I was just leaving," I said. "You'll be fine now."

"Do I know you," she asked as I turned to leave. I just shook my head and opened the door. I wanted to look back but what good would that do. I told the nurse to check up on her and have one of the doctors look in on her. I motioned for Fiona and Akira to follow me as I headed for the front door. I had things that were already in motion and could not be late. I shook a few hands and smiled at the doctor leading the treatment of my mother. I sat behind the wheel and drove to the car to my rendezvous point. There was a vehicle already there waiting for us. I told the girls to get out and follow me. I shook hands with the driver of the other vehicle. I heard both Fiona and Akira gasp when they got a good look at him. They say everyone has a double and in this case he was my doppelganger. I handed him my wallet as well as the wrist device, after I had removed Arianna's and Abraxxa's crystals. I replaced them with blank crystals. He smiled and walked passed us to take his place driving my sister's car. We watched as he drove off into the dark and the cold. I let Fiona drive us home as I took out my replacement wrist device. I plugged the two crystals into it and powered it up. I sat in the back seat as the girls grilled me over the familiar looking stranger. I just held up my hand and told them to be patient. We got home in one piece and huddled around the fire.

Arianna informed me when the police received the call about the car accident. I got up and headed upstairs without a word. Akira followed me but Fiona continued her vigil by the fire. Ten minutes later there came a knock at the door. Fiona called up that she would get it. I waited for the cry of shock from my sister and she screamed as she got the news about my 'death'. The shock was very real but she was asked to come down and identify the body. I heard the front door close and looked over at Akira.

"You are covering your tracks well," she said coolly. "That man's family is being very handsomely rewarded I assume."

"You would be correct," I said. "I don't have any choice. My celebrity isn't something I can simply walk away from."

"This young man who died for you, who was he?"

I launched into a very detailed account of the young man from his birth to his diagnosis of terminal cancer. She blinked away the tears as I told him all about his hopes and dreams. The family was happy to help because of their intimate connection to the Order. I set aside a very generous endowment in his name as well as a monthly payment for his mother. There was nothing that could be done for his condition but the fact that he could do something positive with his death made up for the despair he had been suffering through. I spent the time that Fiona was gone going through the boxes of my photos and possessions from my mom's house. Akira giggled and pointed at my baby pictures. The sound of her laughter lightened my mood a little but there was still the guilt of ending a life prematurely. I would make his sacrifice worthwhile. Fiona eventually returned and came upstairs. She looked like hell and slapped me as hard as she could and then she fell into my arms and wept. I apologized for not warning her but her reaction had to be believable. I had gathered up all of my belongings and gave her the next piece of terrible news. I was leaving this very night. That pushed her into another fit of tears. I could feel her body shake as she sobbed. After a short while we sat together downstairs and I told her why I had to go. I held up my hand and she saw the change had moved half way up my arm.

"Will that happen to me," she asked her lip trembling.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "You may be different and besides I had direct contact with Yog Sothoth." Then I launched into my account of the city of Iram and everything that happened, well most everything. I kept my intimate encounters to myself. Fiona cringed and shook again. I tried to console her but she was too distraught. I think my description of the living vortex was too much for her to handle. Perhaps she thought they would come after her at some point and I wouldn't be there to protect her. I held her until she drifted off into a troubled sleep. I wanted to be there for her, but the change was beginning to accelerate. I gently set her head on the couch and with Akira's help moved the boxes with my belongings to the back yard. Arianna was sending the same craft she had used to move the treasure I had discovered below the house. I turned to Akira ready to ask her if she really wanted to do this but her arms were crossed under that ample bosom of hers and I knew it was fruitless. I shrugged and we waited until the craft silently dropped from the sky. Akira looked at it and then me.

"You are the one," she said grinning. "You are the one that Nick has been hunting all this time!"

"Guilty as charged," I said as the door noiselessly slid open. We loaded the boxes and were watching the ground drop away before too long. The further we travelled the more the stress fell away from me. I knew that Fiona would be fine; she was stronger than she gave herself credit for. I took my last look at my hometown and felt the last of the reluctance drop off. I was doing the right thing. But was I doing it for the right reason? I shivered as a sudden chill took hold. It felt like ice water was flowing through my veins now. I looked over at Akira and she smiled then she saw something in my gaze. She got to her feet and took a step when I shook my head.

"I am fine," I lied. Each second that passed more of my humanity slipped through my fingers. The chill became a polar wind freezing my emotions to my very core. I slipped my phone from my back pocket. I had to do it while I still felt something for this amazing woman. "Akira." I said and caught her with the flash dead in her eyes.

"Don't do this, please," she pleaded as I spoke the harsh words.

"I am dead to the world, I am dead to you," I said spitting out the syllables. "Love him and take care of him." I opened the door even as Abraxxa brought the vehicle low over the water. "Send out a burst transmission to the Numenor, tell Nick where to find her." I shoved her from the air ship and watched her supple body tumble into the darkened waters.

'Transmission sent Master,' Abraxxa replied.

'Take us home,' I said as I closed the door.

The ship sped onto my destination. It dropped into the ocean near the location of the submerged lab. But even before the metallic structure came into view the last vestige of my humanity was gone. I now understood my father completely. I was the keystone for the next age of this world. I would lead the rise of my brethren. Once Nemesis arrived I would drive the human race to their long awaited extinction. It wouldn't be easy, not with Nick Shaw in my way. But I would succeed or perish trying. The ship docked and the airlock opened. I caught my new reflection on the mirror like surface of a nearby wall. Just as I had cast aside my human emotions so had I shed any semblance of my human appearance. I stopped and enjoyed the way the lights shimmered on the glistening sheen of my indigo skin. I had already adjusted to the new senses which were light-years beyond the mundane ones I had once possessed. I could now perceive hidden dimensions that would have driven a mere human stark raving mad. I was reborn. I was home.