Everyone turned to find Mulder and Scully standing in the doorway leading
back to the banquet hall. Mulder held the newly conscious, slightly-dazed
Carly in his arms.
Jason¹s eyes soften instantly. "You¹re awake." He said simply.
Carly began to squirm in MulderŚs grasp, as she saw the longing in Jason¹s
eyes. Mulder sat her down on her feet, and she began to walk
toward Jason.
Robin became enraged when she noticed the looks passing between the
two.
She launched herself, bodily, at Carly the instant Mulder sat her down.
"YOU SKANKY BITCH!!!" she yelled, as she went for Carly¹s
eyes with her
fingernails.
It was Mac who caught her before she hit her intended target.
"Robin!
What the hell is wrong with you?!" he asked, as he restrained
her.
Jason and Carly embraced a moment later. "Are you okay?"
Jason asked
Carly as he pulled back slightly.
"Yeah, just a little shaky." She replied.
Mulder and Scully came up front to speak to Jason. "Scully
and I were on
our way up here to tell you. How did you know it was her?"
Mulder asked
"She said she got here just before Helena, but neither Pete, nor Joseph
saw
her arrive." Jason explained.
Just then someone tapped into Jason¹s and Carly¹s frequency.
Earpiece: "JASON!! Where are you? I don¹t
know how much longer Emily
and I can take it in here. I think that the gas is coming
in somewhere,
because we¹re both getting tired. It getting harder and
harder to stay
awake." Nikolas said.
"Hold on, we¹ll be there as soon as possible, okay. You and
Em just keep
moving around okay?" Jason told him.
Earpiece: "Fine, but hurry, I¹m worried about Em.
She taking it harder
than I am." He replied.
"I get the picture." Jason said as he switched off.
"Where are they?" Carly asked
"It¹s a long story." Jason said distractedly,
"Sonny, I think it¹s time
to switch to plan B."
"I believe that is my line." Helena cut in, stepping down to the floor.
"Will somebody please shut her up." Sonny said in annoyance,
as he reached
for his cell.
"I think not, my dear boy." Helena replied, as she beckoned
her men into
action. "Gentlemen, proceed with the plan.
"Do you want us to use the same gas that we used outside?"
One of her
henchmen asked.
"Of course not, you idiot, my grandson is in here somewhere. Just
knock
them out, time will take care of the rest." Helena said
as she reached for
her gas mask.
A second later the entire room was engulfed in a thin mist-like gas.
Initially, there was a chorus of shocked and frightened screams, but
they
soon died as the gas took effectŠ.
Two hours laterŠ.
"Luke, I think I see the other side." Laura said, as she
began to pick
even harder at the rock separating her from the rest of her family.
"Move back. It¹ll be faster if I do it with the shovel."
Luke returned,
as he pushed his wife out of the way.
Five minutes later, the inside backing of the staircase became visible.
"Looks like we finally hit the jackpot." He said, as he
cleared away the
last of the debris.
"I hope everyone hasn¹t been too worried about us." Laura said.
"We¹ll know soon enough." Luke replied, as he took
his wife hand and lead
her back into the main room.
"Luke, why are we stopping? What¹s wrongŠ"
Laura began, but trailed off
when she finally caught sight of the main room.
"Oh my God! Are they dead?" she asked, frantically
looking around the
room.
"Geez, I hope not." Luke returned, as he began shifting
through the
bodies.
Bodies littered the room, as the misty remnants of the gas hovered in
the
air close to the ceiling. Not one stretch of the floor could
be seen under
the heaps of unconscious partygoers.
"Wait, go back, there¹s Lucky." She said, pointing
to their son¹s body
which lay half covered by the bodies of Elizabeth and Sonny.
"Lucky!" Luke fairly shouted as he bent to listen for a
heartbeat. "Come
on, Lucky, gemme a sign or something."
"Is heŠ." Laura asked anxiously.
"No, he¹s alive." Luke concluded, with a sigh of relief.
They then turned their attention to the other two. "I¹ll
check Sonny.
You, make sure that Lucky¹s little Darlin¹ is just joining
him for a
snooze." Luke ordered lightly.
A minute later, "She¹s breathing, complete with
heartbeat, same as
Lucky." Laura concluded.
"Ditto." Luke said as he sat up and looked around.
"Apparently that gas
up there just knocked¹em out cold. I wonder how long they¹ve
been like
this?"
"More importantly, how do we wake them up?" she wanted to know.
"Well, in the absence of smelling salts, I¹d say good old-fashion
H20,
coupled with several brisk slaps on the face should do the trick."
he
replied with a grin as he spotted Stephan a few feet away.
Laura gave him a chastising stare before she replied. "You
get the water,
and I¹ll do any slapping that might be necessary."
Luke got up, grabbed the punch caldron, and headed off for the restroom,
during which time Laura began to search through the bodies once again.
She
was still looking, when Luke walked back into the room with a caldron
full
of water.
"Who are you looking for?" He asked, as he kneeled down
in front of Lucky,
Lizzie B, and Sonny.
"Nikolas and Emily." she replied.
"Just wait a minute, and Lucky can probably tell us where they are."
Luke
said as he dipped water out of the caldron and dumped it on his son,
Lizzie
B., and Sonny.
Lucky was the first to stir. His brow furrowed in annoyance, as
he became
consciously aware of his wetness. He squirmed for a minute, before
his eyes
began to flutter.
"That¹s it. Just one more cup, I thinkŠ." Luke
said as he tossed another
cupful of water on his son.
Lucky opened his eyes just as the water hit him. He immediately
sat bolt up
right.
"Hey! Lay off with the water!" he choked out.
"Lucky?" Laura said, as she rubbed his hair. "Are you okay?"
"Mom?" he questioned, while rubbing his blood-shot eyes.
"Yeah, it¹s me. Your father¹s here, too." Laura told him.
"Say, what¹s with the water?" Lucky asked, as he looked
at his parents
through thinly opened lids.
Just then, a small moan came from the floor. Lucky immediately
looked down
as he remembered what¹d happened.
"Elizabeth, baby, are you okay?" he asked softly, touching
her face with
the palm of his hand.
"It¹s time for another cup of water." Luke said, as
he dipped the cup back
in the caldron and doused Sonny and Elizabeth once again.
Lucky looked over at his father in annoyance. "Knock it
off! What are you
trying to do? drown them?"
"Lucky?" Elizabeth said weakly.
"Yeah, baby, it¹s me." Lucky replied.
"Brenda?" Sonny said hoarsely, as he tried to sit up.
"Ah, I think Brenda¹s over there, next to Bubba." Luke told him.
Sonny got up slowly and went over to check on his still unconscious
wife,
while Lucky helped Elizabeth off the floor.
"Lucky, we were hoping that you could tell us where Nikolas and Emily
are."
Laura said after a minute.
"Oh Geez! They¹re still in the stables." Lucky
said as he frantically,
glanced around, "Where¹s my jacket?"
"Never mind, I¹ll call them on mine." Lizzie B. said
as she reached down
and changed frequencies.
"What is it? What¹s wrong?" Laura asked immediately.
"It¹s a long story. Do you guys have any idea how long we¹ve
been out?"
Lucky asked his parents worriedly.
"No, as if you didn¹t know, we¹ve been out of touch.
Now, answer your
mother." Luke ordered, "What¹s so tragic
about the Dark Prince and Emily
being in the barn?"
"Not long after Helena arrived, Nik and Em told us that they were stuck
there because there was gas seeping in under the door."
Lucky told them.
"So what. That just means that they¹re knocked out in the
barn instead of
knocked out over here." Luke said, not seeing his point.
"No! You don¹t understand. Just before Helena
threw her little gas bomb
earlier, I heard her say that, she didn¹t want the same gas used
in here
that was used outside because she didn¹t want Nikolas harmed.
She told her
men to just knock us out. Meaning, the gas outside does a lot
more than
just knock you out." Lucky explained as quickly as possible.
"Lucky, no one is answering." Lizzie B informed him gravely
as she
switched off.
"I never thought I¹d say this in a millions years, but I hope Helena
found
them." Laura said, worriedly. "At least then
they¹d be alive. She¹d
never hurt Nikolas intentionally, and Nikolas would never let anything
happen to Emily."
"Dad, do you still keep gas masks in your supply pack?"
Lucky asked, as an
idea formed in his mind.
"Yeah. Look, Lucky, I know where you¹re going with this,
and it¹s not gonna
work. Helena¹s got the house booby-trapped. You know
that explosion you
heard a few hours ago?" Luke reminded him,
"Your mother and I were on
our way outside to look into a sound we heard when I tripped a wire
that set
it off. And you know that¹s not the only one."
"Damn! What do we do now?" Lucky said in frustration.
Lizzie B. pulled Lucky into her arms loosely, "We have to
come up with a
plan to get them out of there. If that explosion happened
a few hours ago,
that means we¹ve been out for a while. And all that
time, Nik and Em have
been subjected to whatever toxic substance that is outside."
Lizzie B
informed them bluntly.
Just then there was a ruckus behind them. Luke, Laura, Lucky,
and LizzieB
turned around to find Sonny and Brenda leaning over a very frantic
Mulder.
"Scully! Scully! Where is she?" Mulder demanded looking around wildly.
"Wasn¹t she standing beside you when the gas bombs went off?"
Brenda
asked.
"Yeah, but she¹s not here now." Mulder said, as it
donned on him where she
was.
"Look, we need to wake up the rest of the crew, so we can come up with
a
plan to rescue Bonnie and Clyde over in the barn." Luke
suggested,
"After that, we¹ll deal with Cassidine, and find Scully, and whoever
else
she might have taken."
"Carly¹s gone, tooŠ" Mulder said as he looked over
at where her and Jason
should have been. Only Jason¹s isolated form could
be seen.
Chapter 35
Sonny is on his cell, calling for reinforcements.
"ŠHow soon can you get here?Š..yeahŠ..call me back at this number if
you
have any problems." He said, then flipped the phone closed.
"How long?" Jason asked the second he was off.
"With the supplies that we need, one hour, at the earliest."
Sonny
replied, gravely.
"What about the police? What kind of a clock did they give?"
Mulder
inquired.
"They said that judging from our unique situation, it would be about
two
hours before they could design a reasonable course of action to follow
and
another hour before they could get here to follow it."
Sonny relayed in
disgust.
"We can¹t wait that long. We have to come up with something,
now." Jason
returned.
"Yeah, I know." Sonny agreed, then turned to Luke, "Well?"
"Well, what?" Luke returned annoyed.
"Start thinking. You¹re the resident expert." Sonny told him.
"Yeah, Luke, I think it¹s time for that encyclopedia of Cassidine
knowledge,
which you supposedly possess, to start working in our favor, for a
change."
Mulder said, snidely.
Laura rolled her eyes. "There¹s just a little bit too
much testosterone in
this room for me." she remarked under her breath, giving
Lizzie B. a
knowing look.
Lizzie B. snickered at Laura¹s hushed comment, before she took
control,
"Look, we know where they are, our only problem is how do we get to
them,
right? Well, correct me if I¹m wrong, but aren¹t there
caves, tunnels, and
catacombs all around this place. Couldn¹t someone
just crawl through one
of them to the outside, wearing a gas mask of course, get to the barn,
and
bring Nik and Em back over here, or at least supply them with a couple
of
masks to keep them alive until Sonny¹s men and the police can
get here to
help us?" Elizabeth said, with a smile, "Huh,
fellas, is that possible?"
Lucky, ever present at her side, smiled down at his baby.
"I couldn¹t have
said it better myself." He said.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Brenda agreed, then asked,
"Is anyone going
to volunteer or do we have to draw straws like in the movies?"
"I¹ll go." Jason, Luke, Lucky, Mulder and Sonny all said simultaneously.
There was a pregnant pause in the room as all the volunteers looked
around
at one another.
"I¹m a trained professional. If anyone should go it should
be me." Mulder
announced.
"Well, I¹m the only one here who knows the tunnel system, so logic
demands
that I go." Luke said.
"That¹s my sister over there." Jason said to no one in particular.
"Nikolas is my brother, plus I¹m light, and quick on my feet."
Lucky said,
plugging himself.
"Guess we¹ll be drawing straws then." Brenda concluded,
then added
sarcastically, "Unless, you guys would rather duke it out, winner
takes
all?"
Brenda¹s comment brought glares from all the men and snickers from
Laura and
Lizzie B.
"Come on, let¹s get the equipment, map out a definite route, and
plan for
what to do once we get to the stables. Then we¹ll decide
who goes, okay?"
Elizabeth said squarely.
The men grumbled in agreement. Luke went to get his equipment
bag from
behind the stairs.
He returned to the others and began looking through it for useful items.
"There¹s a first aid kit and four gas masks, that I know we can
use. Let¹s
see what else, oh, flashlights, a ball of yarn to mark the path, uhŠ
and
that¹s about all we¹ll need." Luke said, taking
out all the items he¹d
mentioned.
"What about that explosion, you said it cut off the cave you were in.
Is
there any chance that it may have cut off some of the other tunnels
as
well?" Mulder asked.
"Maybe, maybe not? Although even if it did some damage elsewhere,
it
probably wouldn¹t be as bad as where we were." Luke concluded
after a
moment, "I think it¹s best if we try the catacombs
below, since we already
know that the tunnels within the walls are wired. Helena may
not have taken
the time to rigged everything down below."
"How do we get to them?" Jason asked.
"Unfortunately, we have to go through a tunnel behind the wall in Vlad¹s
study." Luke said, "It may be booby-trapped
so everyone please watch
your step."
With that they headed off to the study. Once they, there entered
through a
secret passage behind the bookcase.
After ten minutes or soŠ "Okay, it¹s just a little
bit further." Luke
said, as he led the group through a series of twists and turns, along
the
way to the catacomb entrance.
When they arrived at their destination, everyone was shocked to discover
that the explosion had indeed troubled some of the other tunnels.
"There is no way any one of us is going to be able to get through that
opening." Mulder said, voicing what all the other men were
thinking.
"Either Brenda or Elizabeth could go." Laura suggested.
"No way." Lucky said, just as soon as the words were out of her mouth.
"Way!" Elizabeth fired back, an indignant look on her face.
"Lucky¹s right. I don¹t like it." Sonny
agreed, pulling Brenda closer to
him.
"Oh, so it¹s okay for the men to go out and save the world, while
all the
women get to do is sit back and watch, huh?" Brenda said, narrowing
her
eyes in determination.
"Normally, I¹d be against it too, but logically, one of them has
to go. We
don¹t have time to wait, or come up with a better plan.
Nikolas and Emily
need our help now." Jason informed the group bluntly.
"I say we go with Lizzie B. She has emergency medical training,
and plus
with her P.I. experience she knows how to handle herself in potentially
dangerous situations." Mulder proposed, then looked at
Brenda seeking her
qualifications, "What about you?"
"Well, let¹s see, I¹m familiar with the Heimlich maneuver,
and Šuh ŠI¹ve
read lots of Nancy DrewŠerrŠ if that helps." Brenda replied,
gesturing
helplessly.
"Okay, I guess that settles it. Elizabeth, front and center."
Luke said,
then glanced at his son, "Lucky, are your communications back
up and
running?"
"Yeah." Lucky said weakly, not relishing the thought
of his and
LizzieB.¹s upcoming separation.
Noticing his anguish, LizzieB. leaned over and asked, "You
trust me, don¹t
you?"
"With my life." He replied, without hesitation.
She reached out, held both sides of his face with her hands, and looked
into
his eyes, "Then believe me when I say, I can handle this.
Nothing is
going to happen to me, okay?" she promised with conviction, then
she
smiled, "Just pretend like I¹m going out for pizza."
He chuckled at her last statement, "Extra pepperoni?"
He asked
playfully, although there was a deeper question in his eyes.
"You bet." She said, nodding slightly to both his spoken
and unspoken
question.
Luke then looked at Elizabeth and began telling her what she needed
to know.
"Here¹s the plan. We¹ll all be wired into your
frequency. I¹ll be giving
you directions on which way to go, and what things to watch out for.
But
mark you path with the yarn just in case you get lost or we get cut
off.
The communications might be in and out, because of the stone walls.
Eventually, when you get so far they¹ll cut off altogether.
When that
happens, you¹re on your own. We¹ll all go back to the
house and wait until
you get outside to re-establish contact. Once you get outside,
that¹s when
things really get tricky. Watch your step very carefully.
There might be
trip-wires running along the ground." Luke instructed her.
"Gotcha." She replied.
Next, Mulder took up the torch. "Once you¹re in the
barn, use your own
discretion to decide what the best course of action is, depending on
what
you find. Obviously, you won¹t be able to bring them back
over here. Emily
might fit through, but Nikolas is out of the question. Do what¹s
necessary
and get back as quickly as possible." Mulder said.
"Sure thing, Boss." She said
Next, Sonny took his turn. "While you¹re outside, if
you notice any
obvious traps, you might want to mark them, so when help does get here,
they
won¹t make the same mistake Luke made. If you can, see how
bad the house is
wired, anything that might help us ditch this place."
Sonny told her.
"I¹ll keep my eyes wide open." She promised.
Luke then handed her his bag with the equipment she would need.
Lucky, who had been strangely silent during the instructions, moved
to take
her in his arms. He leaned his head down and rested it on her
shoulder
momentarily. He tried to put on a brave front, but the pain of
even the
slight possibility of losing her was evident on his face. He
lifted his
head and whispered in her ear, "I¹ll miss youŠ"
"I¹ll be back before you know it." She whispered back.
"It¹s ShowTime folks." Luke announced a minute later.
The couple separated slowly. Lizzie B. pulled back to find that
Lucky had
unshed tears in his eyes. He didn¹t want her to go, but
he made no move to
prevent her from leaving.
Elizabeth gave him one last parting smile before she turned. She
then
carefully climbed her way to the tiny little hole, and slipped through
until
only her face could be seen. Lucky stood nearby along with the
rest of the
group.
Music begins to play, "Have a Little Faith in Me" sung by Joe Cocker.
Everyone erupted into a chorus of farewells, "Be careful,"
"Hurry back,"
"Good luck," "Stay sharp,"
When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Let my love throw a spark
Have a little faith in me
Elizabeth then disappeared through the hole. The second she left
his sight,
Lucky¹s tears fell.
And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Give these loving arms a try, baby
Have a little faith in me
Elizabeth makes her way down some rather rough terrain, while elsewhere
Luke
can be seen giving her instructions.
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Lucky whispers encouragement to Lizzie B. as she nears the bottom.
Luke
continues to give her directions as the communications start to flutter.
When your secret heart
Cannot speak so easily
From a whisper start
To have a little faith in me
And when you back¹s against the wall
Just turn around and you will see
I will catch your fall, baby
So have a little faith in me
Lizzie B. stops for a moment to get the rest of Luke¹s directions,
before
they lose contact. A moment later, the group can be seen
moving back
towards the study.
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in meŠ..
Elizabeth finally made it to the bottom of the catacombs. There
was a
clearing, into which a maze of tunnels emptied. In the center
of the space,
was a pool of water. It looks as if there were even tunnels under
the
water.
"Man, I wish I knew how to go that way. At least then, there wouldn¹t
be
any traps to trip into." She said, looking longingly at
the water
Just then, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.
She
turned quickly and pointed her flashlight in that direction to get
a better
look, but she didn¹t see anything out of the ordinary.
"Chill out, Liz. You alreadly have enough problems without inventing
new
ones." She told herself calmly.
With that, she continued on her way. She reached the outside ten
minutes
later where she immediately called the group.
"Relax, I made it." She said into her mouthpiece.
Earpiece: "You sound muffled. What¹s up?" Jason asked.
"Oh, that¹s just because I¹m talking through the gas mask."
She returned,
"I¹m heading for the barn as we speak."
"How¹s it look out there?" Lucky asked.
"Hazy, there¹s still a lot of that gas in the air."
She answered, looking
around.
Just then she tripped over something. "Oh Geez!" she exclaimed.
Earpeice: "What! What is it?!" Lucky inquired frantically.
Chapter 36
Lizzie recovered from her fall instantly, although it took her a couple
of
seconds to recover from the cause of her fall.
Earpiece: "Elizabeth!! What was that?" Lucky asked again.
"Uh, nothing. I tripped is all." She answered distractedly.
Earpiece: "On what?" Luke asked.
"One of Jason¹s men. He¹s dead, and it¹s a good
bet that the rest of them
are dead, too." She replied sadly.
Several sharp intakes of breath followed this annoucement. She
continued to
the barn. When she got there she took a deep breath before she
opened the
door. The first thing she saw was discarded items of clothing,
that had
previsouly been shoved under the door, as well as other random pieces
of
cloth. She stepped over them and quickly looked around
the room. She
stopped when she saw Emily across the room, laying face-down on a pile
of
hay. She then rushed over to her friend, flipper her over, and
gasped.
ElsewhereŠ.
Everyone was still in the study, each listening to their respective
earpieces when Elizabeth gasped. Laura was horrified.
"Elizabeth! ELIZABETH! You tell me what¹s going on
right now! Answer me,
I said. You tell me what¹s going on with my son right now,
you hear!"
Laura cried into her mouthpiece.
"MomŠ." Lucky began warningly, then continued more forcefully,
"Mom!
Now is not the time for hesterics."
Luke, Lucky, Sonny and Brenda, all did their best to calm her down.
Back in the barnŠ
Elizabeth was leaning over a lifeless Emily, in the middle of CPR.
After a
minute, she was sucessful in getting her to breathe. She quickly
slipped
one of the gas masks over Emily¹s face, while she looked around
in search of
Nikolas. He was nowhere to be found. Up until now,
Elizabeth had simply
drowned out Laura¹s pleading voice, but now she decided it was
time to
answer.
"Sorry, about the delay folks, but I had to deal with something quickly
and
I didn¹t have time to explain." She said into her mouthpiece,
"Okay,
hear¹s the deal. I found Emily. She¹s alive,
but she¹s seen better days.
She has a bluish twing that I¹m a little worried about.
She stopped
breathing a minute ago, and I had to give her CPR, and I put a mask
on her.
She¹s fine for the moment, but I can¹t leave her here.
She¹s tall but
she¹s also pretty thin, so I think she¹ll fit in the tunnel."
She told
them.
Earpiece: "What about Nikolas?" Laura asked, she calmeness
having
returned.
"He¹s not here. My guess is that Helena took him."
Lizzie B. said, then
directed at Mulder. "Hey, Boss, this explains why she took
Scully. If
Nikolas was in anywhere near the shape that Emily was in then he most
definitely needed a doctor¹s attention. Anyway, I¹m
starting back right
now. It¹ll take me a little longer now that I have Emily."
Earpiece: "Good, just take it easy. By the time you
get back, we¹ll have
Alan and Monica thawed out to see to Emily." Jason told
her.
"Let¹s knock some sense into Vlad, too, and see if he has some
medical
supplies that might be useful." Lizzie B heard Luke say,
faintly.
Earpiece: "What about the outside of the house? Did
you get a look at
it?" Sonny asked her.
"Yeah, there are explosives planted all around it, as far as the eye
can
see." She told him.
Earpeice: "Damn!" Sonny swore. "You head
back now, Elizabeth." Lucky
told her.
"I¹m on my way." She replied as she was dragging Em out the barn door.
During the time that Elizabeth had been in the barn, the wind had picked
up.
"Looks like it¹s clearing up a little bit." She commented
to herself, as
she continued across the outside.
She was halfway to her destination, when once again something caught
her
attention out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and looked
around, it
couldn¹t be a coincidence. She¹d definitely seen something,
and what ever
it was had come from the near the house. She placed Emily down
gently and
cautiously walked over. She looked around once again, but she
still didn¹s
see anything.
Earpiece: "Elizabeth? You okay, baby?" Lucky asked.
"Yeah, Lucky, I¹m right here. I thought I saw something near
the house."
She told him.
Earpiece: "Like what, everyone out there is dead except
you and Emily."
He returned.
"I don¹t know, but I thought I saw the same thing when I was down
in the
catacombs, so I know I¹m not imagining it." She said.
Earpiece: "Well, don¹t waste too much time looking
for it, Emily comes
first." Lucky warned her.
"Yeah, okay." Elizabeth said, finally giving up.
She started to move away from the house, looking down to make sure there
were no wires. Suddenly, she saw what she had been looking for.
There was
a red light flashing from beneath the bushes. She walked back
and parted
the greenery. There, she saw more explosives, only this time
there was
something different. The red light that had caught her eye appeared
to be
clock, or more appropriately a timer.
Immediately, she started back toward Emily, contacting the others on
the
way. "Lucky! I have bad news."
She said shakily, "You guys might
want to wake the Commissioner, when you¹re done with the other
three." She
told him.
Earpiece: "Why? What¹d you find?"
Lucky asked, not really seeing how
their situation could possibly get any worse.
"You know those explosives I was telling Sonny about earlier?"
she
reminded him.
Earpiece: "Yeah, the ones around the house, what about them?" He asked.
"Well, they¹re on a timer." She told him gravely as
she pulled Emily back
towards the catacomb entrance.
Earpiece: "What! Please tell me you¹re kidding."
Lucky said, not
believing his ears.
"I wish I were. It looks to me like we have a little over ninety
minutes
before the real Grim Reaper comes pulling up on shore to escort us
all to
the hereafter." She said, "Look, I¹m just
about to go back into the
catacombs, so you won¹t be able to hear me anymore, okay?"
Earpeice: "Yeah, I¹ll see you soon." Lucky
said briefly, before he began
calling the other group memebers.
"Guys?" he said into his mouthpiece.
After a minute and no answer, he tried again, "HEL-LO!
GUYS, it¹s me, and
I need to speak to you."
In the main roomŠ
Luke, Laura, Sonny, and Brenda were leaning over Ronnie and Stephan,
while
Mulder and Jason douced water on Alan and Monica.
"Lucky? Why are you yelling the house down?" Laura said.
Earpiece: "Everybody, listen to me, we have a serious problem.
We have to
get off this island soon, and very soon, because according to Elizabeth
we
have about ninety-minutes before this place goes up in smoke."
He said
hurriedly.
"Explain?" Mulder asked.
Earpiece: "Those explosives that she spotted outside, circling
the house,
are on a timer. Game¹s over in about an hour and a half."
Lucky said.
"Undoubtably, that is what Helena was referring to when she said time
would
take care of the rest of us." Mulder deduced,
"She¹s nothing if not
thorough."
"What do we do now?" Brenda asked.
"Well, there¹s nothing we can do unless someone here is an authority
on
defusing bombs." Laura said.
"Sonny, how long ago did you call for help?" Mulder asked.
"Forty-five minutes. They should be here in fifteen." Sonny replied.
"Good. I say we wait on them to get here and transport everyone
off the
island. In the meantime, we wake everyone up and get ready to
go." Mulder
suggested.
"Yeah, but HOW do we leave? We still can¹t just walk out
the front door,
and only the smaller people can make it through the catacombs."
Jason
asked.
"What about the roof?" Mulder suggested, then turned to
Luke, "Or would
she have it wired, too?"
"Maybe not." Luke returned seeing the worth in his idea.
"How do we get up there?" Jason asked Luke,
His expression told Jason all he needed to know, "Another tunnel, right?"
"Afraid so." Luke returned.
"I hope this next tunnel is more universal than the last one we saw."
Laura stated.
Just then a chorus of moans interupted their conversation.
ElsewhereŠ.
Elizabeth had safely made her way back into the catacombs with Emily.
She
began to retrace her steps back to the bottom. She was just about
to cross
the threshold that led into theclearing, when she glanced down and
spotted a
trip wire.
"Geez! Where did that come from?" she said aloud as she
stepped over it,
and lifted Emily¹s feet over it. "I know it wasn¹t
here before."
She continued on her way, although she was extra special careful about
where
she walked. As she continued to climb back up, Lucky¹s voice
started to
flick in and out of her earpeice.
"Elizabeth?ŠhearŠ.yetŠEmŠ" his voice said brokenly.
Once she entered the last tunnel he came in loud and clear.
Earpiece:
"Elizabeth? Can you hear me yet? How¹s Em doing?"
"She¹s fine, Lucky. We¹ll be right up." Lizzie B. replied.
Earpiece: "Cool, her parents are here." Lucky said.
"Listen, Lucky, when I get up there, I¹ll put Em through first.
You¹ll need
to pull her in from your side." She said.
Eapiece: "Got it."
She made her last turn, and started to climb back up toward the entrance
dragging Em behind her. She was breathless by the time she made
it to the
opening. As promised, she pushed Emily through first.
"Lucky, can you see her yet?" she asked.
Earpiece: "Yeah, just a little further, I still can¹t get her."
Lizzie B. pushed Em up a little more. "How about now, can you grab her?
Earpiece: "AlmostŠ.Got it! Okay, I got her." He said triumphantly.
He threw all his strengh in his arms to pull her from the small opening,
where Monica and Alan stood waiting to attend to her. Once
the upper half
of her body began visible, Alan pulled her the rest of the
way. He then laid her down on the ground, while him and Monica
examined her
condition.
"We should probably leave the mask on, we don¹t want her inhaling
even a
little of what ever knocked us out on the dance floor." Alan
suggested.
"Good. Let¹s get her out of this dampness, and into some warm clothes.
That
might bring the color back into her cheeks. Come on, I guess
she¹ll have to
where something of Nikolas¹."
Monica said.
Alan picked up Emily, and the three of them head back towards the study.
Lucky then turned his atttention back to the hole where Lizzie B. had
just
arrived.
"Hi, baby." He said as he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
"Welcome
back."
"Actually, Lucky, I¹m not completely back, yet." She said tentatively.
"What do you mean, you¹re not completely back, yet?"
He replied,
suspiciously.
"Look, I just need to go back and check on something right quick.
I saw
something down there that might help us find Helena." She
explained.
"No, Elizabeth, Sonny¹s people are gonna be here with the helicopter
to
rescue us any minute now. We have to go." He said,
shaking his head.
"Lucky, you know I wouldn¹t do this unless it were important.
So what if we
get resuced, if Helena still gets away with Carly, Scully, and Nikolas.
Carly¹s as good as dead as soon as Helena gets where she¹s
going, and
Scully¹s running a close second once she¹s out-lived her
usefulness. And
do you want your brother to be at the mercy of that witch for the rest
of
his life? I know that everyone thinks that she won¹t hurt
him, but I
disagree. The second he steps out of line he¹s history.
Look at what she¹s
already done; she obviously has no respect for human life."
Elizabeth
said pleadingly.
Although Lucky was inclined to agree with her about Helena, he didn¹t
like
the idea of her doing any investigating in the catacombs.
"Elizabeth, please, just come back now." He said, looking
directly into
her eyes.
"I can¹t, not yet." She said as she began to retreat
back into the
opening, "It¹ll only take a minute, okay?"
"NO! It¹s not okay. Elizabeth! You get back here!"
He yelled out, as she
disappeared from his sight.
She made her way back down to where the clearing where she¹d seen the wire.
Earpiece: "Elizabeth, I don¹t like this." Lucky said.
"Lucky, my promise still holds. Nothing is going to happen to
me. I just
noticed that the pizza place gave us the wrong order, that¹s all."
She
returned playfully, trying to ease his anxiety.
Earpiece: "That¹s not funny, Elizabeth."
Lucky said, although he cracked
a smile in spite of himself, "What do you see?"
"Nothing strange yet, oh wait just a minute." She said.
Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud sound, followed instantly by
a
startled gasp from Lizzie B.